Chapter 40
My mouth parted as my mind went blank.
“Mated with?”
Selena nodded. “Your corda-cruor will override the oxytocin caused by your siren’s song.”
“Corda-cruor,” I repeated hesitantly.
“Your blood-bond. Naiads can bond to one another, just as they do humans, mammals, birds—even plants and insects. They develop a cordae with things. In Leihani, you lovingly tended to your garden every day, and even during the night, cultivating your crops to grow from seed to fruit. You turned the soil, fertilized, watered, and protected your garden by weeding and eradicating pests. You cordaed to the land of Leihani by creating life there.”
I eyed Selena, not quite understanding.
She sighed, attempting a new angle. “Nori and Olinne trained you to be a—what did they call it?”
“Steward of the Land,” I deadpanned, uneasy at the mention of the other Naiads.
Selena nodded. “Steward of the Land. As a Naiad, you tethered yourself to the life forces there, the energy within, deep under the soil. You created life with your own hands—for years.
“This means that in the Juile Sea, you are already very powerful. You have twenty-two, or more likely twenty-three, years of life on that island, eating its bounty and bathing in its moonlight. The Naiads could have transitioned you years earlier, but Sidra waited. She waited for you to spend every day growing your garden. She waited for you to absorb every ounce of lunar light. You’d be a formidable force in Leihani or in its surrounding waters.”
I frowned. “Is it uncommon to wait so long?”
“Well, again, it’s different for everyone,” Selena answered. “Most Naiads don’t begin as humans, though it’s not rare.”
I frowned. “Can a Naiad give birth?”
Selena closed her eyes, her eyebrows high, as though she had to restrain herself from commenting on my ignorance. “Can a dolphin?”
I dropped my eyes to the table, though a smile threatened the corners of my mouth. “How do Naiads mate?”
Selena gave me a pained look. “Much the same as humans.”
“But how?” I pressed. “Where do males hide their—” I stopped at the look Selena gave me, a sort of piteous gaze.
“I think an anatomy lesson is in order,” Selena said.
I snorted. “I know the anatomy of humans.”
“Indeed,” Selena said drily. “Which brings us back to the matter. Naiads mate for life.”
For the love of the moon, the sun, and all the stars in the sky. I suddenly saw where this was going. Groaning inwardly, I sank in my chair. Kye’s stupid, beautiful face swept into my memory, his eyes full of the same churning hatred I felt for him.
“And,” Selena continued, ignoring my look of dread as she spun the pen slowly in her fingers, “Once a corda-cruor is struck between the two of you, he will be more pleasant to deal with. I promise. Humans tend to become enamored with the Naiads that cordae them. And you will as well. Naiads are…sensual beings. It won’t matter that you haven’t mated before, like it might for a young female human. Once you start the act, the shyness or hesitance will drop away. It’ll be you and him, and nothing else in the world.”
Mihaunaat dusk and dawn and moon-damned daylight, the sudden fire in my flesh would eat me alive if she didn’t stop talking.
“By that you mean when I mate with him,” I said, my eyes locked into the fountain pen in her hand. Something squirmed in my belly. The heat ran under my skin, crawling, spreading, consuming.
“Yes.”
A heavy weight sat over my lap, legs straddling my waist.
“I said I’d marry him. I didn’t say I’d mate with him,” I protested, refusing to acknowledge the urge to shudder that forced itself between my shoulder blades.
“A corda-cruor with another person—human or Naiad—can be made only one way,” Selena plowed on, ignoring me. “By the act of which would create life. Mating.”
My jaw jutted to the side, impatient for the conversation to end. “Does he know about this? This corda-cruor?”
She gave an impatient sigh. “I’m not there for the meetings between him and Thaan. But no. I assume he does not. He’s still a human, and therefore not entitled to Naiad secrets. In fact, it would be prudent for you to treat him as though he knew nothing of your contract, as he has been instructed to do the same.”
“So, he’ll be bound to me for life, even though he currently thinks as soon as I accomplish what I agreed to, he’ll be rid of me.”
Selena’s expression cooled. Lithe and graceful, she drew herself upright, pinning me with calm command. “I’m not privy to the specific terms of your contract, but in the interest of safety for us both, I think it wise not to—”
“Thaan made me agree to kill Prince Hadrian.”
Selena’s pen dropped from her hand. “Maren,” she shot at me.
A streak of reckless pride ran through me at the thought that Thaan hadn’t wanted her to know. That I’d somehow thwarted him.
“Don’t say anything else.”
“In three years.”
She gave a long sigh, pinching her nose. “I think our lesson is over.”
“Why would Thaan and K—Nikolaos—want Hadrian dead?”
Selena’s arm dropped to the table, deadweight. Despite her brief scolding, I could see the wheels turning in her head, the question winding in her mind as much as mine.
“For Nikolaos, I think the answer is easy to see,” she said carefully, her gaze landing on a black candle on her windowsill. Its wick flickered and danced in silence. “A second born prince doesn’t need a long list of ulterior motives when he’s next in line for the crown. And Thaan is driven by power. There must be a reason he would think he could gain more of it through wielding Nikolaos rather than Hadrian.”
“Wielding him?”
“Of course.” Selena’s eyes shifted to mine. “Nikolaos is a pawn to Thaan, as much as you or I am.”
Oh please. Spare me. “You said Nikolaos’s motive was easy to see.”
“I did.” She picked up her pen again, twirling it slowly in her fingers. “I also believe that like you, and like myself, there are likely more layers to the agreement between Nikolaos and Thaan than meets the eye.”
Well, wasn’t that a nice little seed of manipulation. I’ll just forgive Kye for everything he’d said and done since leaving Leihani.
My jaw clenched. I rose slowly from my chair, staring her down. “I’ll see you in the morning,” I said, my voice flat and dull as sparks of anger flared within me.
“I’m sorry,” Selena said as I turned away from her. “If you need a silver lining, let it be this. Cordaeing with the prince will bring you one step closer to fulfilling your blood vow. You might hate the idea, and you have every right to. But if you’re ever to walk free, this is the path.”